Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends
Oh, I get high with a little help from my friends
~ The Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends"
"Oh my god," Brooklyn exclaimed as she looked in the mirror. Paul came running in from the other room.
"What's wrong? What's happening? Who do I need to kill?" Paul asked, alarmed at her sudden outburst.
"Nothing's wrong," Brooklyn laughed. "Look! I'm showing."
She turned to the side to give him a better look. Brooklyn's bump had finally progressed from looking like she was bloated, to looking like an actual baby bump. A very small baby bump, but a baby bump nonetheless.
"You scared the crap out of me," Paul whined. "You can't yell like that."
"Sorry," Brooklyn said. "But look how cute my belly is. Don't you think it's cute?"
Paul laughed at her excitement. "Yes, your belly is very cute," he humored her.
Brooklyn was now fourteen weeks along, and she had just entered her second trimester of pregnancy, and she was feeling pretty great. She hadn't had any nausea, and her mood swings were getting easier to deal with, and she finally didn't feel exhausted for no reason.
"I can't wait to show Seth," she said. Paul still wasn't happy about the fact that his pack-mate had both imprinted on and impregnated his sister, but he was dealing with it the best he could. As long as Seth treated Brooklyn and the baby well, Paul couldn't really complain. He just wanted what was best for his little sister.
"So you're coming to Sam's today?" Paul asked her. He knew that Seth was running patrol today, so he would be at Sam's. Paul about to head over there to hang out with Jared.
"No," Brooklyn replied. "I told Bella I'd have a girl's day with her. I'm gonna hang out with Seth tonight."
"I don't like you hanging out with her," Paul said.
"You don't like me hanging out with Bella, or Shawn, or Seth," Brooklyn retorted. "Is there anyone you do like me hanging out with?"
"No," Paul deadpanned.
"You're so annoying," Brooklyn rolled her eyes. "I'm allowed to have friends."
"Okay, but did you have to pick the freaky vampire chick and my ex-best friend? It's weird," he said.
"They're really nice people— you just never really gave them a chance," Brooklyn replied.
"I never gave them a chance? Shawn was my friend way before he was yours," Paul told her. "You're forgetting that I know a lot about him, and you don't know everything that he's said and done."
"If this is about the fight you had, I think you should talk to him about it," Brooklyn said. "There's a lot of stuff that he never got to tell you, and I know for a fact that he's sorry about it. Anyways, I think you're judging Bella and Seth too harshly."
"I don't think that I am," Paul sassed.
"The only reason you don't like Seth is because I'm sleeping with him. And you're still salty that Bella slapped you that one time," she replied.
"I've seen into Seth's mind," Paul said. "There are some things I didn't need to know about you, that I now know because of Seth's thoughts. And Bella's an entitled leech lover. I have no respect for her."
Brooklyn giggled at the mention of Seth's thoughts. Sure, it made her uncomfortable to know that everyone knew Seth's private thoughts about her, but she would be lying if she said that she didn't have similar thoughts about him.
"Look, Bella has been a really good friend to me lately," Brooklyn told him. "Besides, it's good for me to spend time with other teenage girls. I've never had very many friends who are girls."
"Fine," Paul conceded. "I won't complain about you hanging out with Bella, but you have to be careful— she's a vampire magnet."
"I promise that I will be careful," Brooklyn said. "And I'll call you if anything bad happens... Assuming that I haven't been murdered by a vampire."
"That's not funny," Paul told her.
"Sorry," Brooklyn said. "I'll be careful— it's not just me I have to worry about anymore."
"Okay," Paul said. "But seriously, call if anything happens."
"Alright, I gotta go," she said as she grabbed her bag and keys.
Brooklyn had finally gotten her driver's licence— she loved the independence that came with it. She no longer had to depend on everyone to drive her around, and she could go wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted. It was pretty great.
The drive to Bella's house was fairly quick, and Brooklyn soon found herself parked outside of Bella's house. She knocked on the door, and was greeted by Charlie Swan.
"Hi, Brooklyn," Charlie smiled. "Bella's just up in her room."
"Thanks, Mr. Swan," Brooklyn smiled as she entered the house. She quickly climbed the stairs and knocked on Bella's door.
"Come in," Bella called. Brooklyn opened the door and walked into the room.
"Hey, Bella," Brooklyn greeted. "Wanna see something cool?"
"Sure," Bella said.
"Look!" Brooklyn said excitedly as she removed her sweatshirt to expose her tank top covered midsection.
"No way," Bella smiled. "You're finally showing."
"I'm so excited," Brooklyn said. "Like I went to bed last night looking kinda bloated, and I woke up this morning with a bump."
"That's so cool," Bella said enthusiastically. "Can you feel it moving yet?"
"No, not yet," Brooklyn replied. "Apparently, I should feel movement in a couple of weeks, but sometimes people can feel it sooner than that... or a little later. But it won't be strong enough to feel from the outside which is kind of a bummer. Seth really wants to feel it moving."
"Have you showed him the bump yet?" Bella asked.
"He's on patrol right now, so I'm waiting until tonight," Brooklyn told her. "I was thinking about texting him a picture, but I think he'll want to see it in real life first."
Brooklyn and Bella spent the rest of the day watching movies and talking about their lives. Bella was a little older than Brooklyn, but that didn't impact their friendship at all.
"That's weird," Bella said. She had gotten up to grab a sweatshirt.
"What is?" Brooklyn asked.
"Well, I could have sworn I had my red shirt hung up next to my sweatshirt, but it's not there," Bella said.
"Did you check the laundry? I always forget that I've already worn things," Brooklyn responded.
Bella looked through the contents of the hamper. "It's not here," she said.
"Is anything else missing?" Brooklyn asked.
"I'm not sure," Bella said. "I probably just misplaced it or something. It's probably nothing."
"Yeah... Probably," Brooklyn replied, but she wasn't so sure about that. Bella was a vampire magnet after all.